Slaughter and May

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"My experience has been that talking to my colleagues and HR about my hearing impairment has really helped me understand better what support I need and has given me the confidence to do my job despite some of the challenges."

About us

Slaughter and May is one of the most prestigious law firms in the world. We advise on high-profile and often landmark international transactions. Our excellent and varied client list ranges from governments to entrepreneurs, from retailers to entertainment companies and from conglomerates to Premier League football clubs. We are a full service law firm to corporate clients and have leading practitioners across a wide range of practice areas including Mergers and Acquisitions, Corporate and Commercial, Financing, Tax, Competition, Dispute Resolution, Real Estate, Pensions and Employment, Financial Regulation, Information Technology and Intellectual Property.

A World of Difference

There are clear differences between us and other global law firms.

At Slaughter and May we train each of our lawyers to be a multi-specialist equipped to advise on a broad range of legal matters, which at other firms would be handled by a number of different lawyers. We think that by broadening your training and experience, you will be a better lawyer. We have built a reputation for delivering innovative solutions to difficult problems. This reputation has been earned because each of our lawyers advises on broad legal areas, combining experience gained on one type of transaction to solve problems in another. In this way, our lawyers have a varied and interesting workload and ample opportunities to develop close relationships with clients.

Nearly all of our work has an international element and we have offices in London, Brussels, Hong Kong and Beijing. In other jurisdictions we prefer to remain agile by leading unified, hand-picked teams of lawyers from market-leading law firms. All the firms we work with across the world have a reputation for excellence and independence that mirrors our own.

At Slaughter and May we also take a different approach to time; there are no set billing or time targets. Some ideas take a matter of seconds but are can save companies millions of pounds a year. The type of work we do is not always measurable in minutes. In this way, our lawyers are free to work collaboratively, sharing expertise and knowledge, so that they can concentrate on what matters most, the quality of the work and client service.

Did you know?

You will find people from a diverse range of religious, racial and social backgrounds at Slaughter and May. Among our lawyers, 24 nationalities and 61 different universities are represented.

We have a Multi-specialist approach
At Slaughter and May we don’t pigeonhole our lawyers – all are trained to be multi-specialists across a broad range of legal matters. This is in sharp contrast to the experience that you might have at other City firms where, as a trainee in, say, a finance group, you may well work in a very narrow area of finance.

An international approach
Many of our trainees and associates have the opportunity to work abroad, either in our offices or in one of the firms we work closely with overseas. We believe that our secondments are especially beneficial because they give our lawyers the chance to experience a working culture very different from our own.

Our people
We value diversity and individuality very highly – different perspectives are crucial when it comes to providing innovative advice. You will find graduates from over 92 different degree courses, 84 different universities and 32 different nationalities at Slaughter and May. But there are shared qualities that help bind us together.

No billable hours targets
The answer to these questions is to leave the clocks outside. Although we record time, we have no billing or time targets. This means our lawyers are not forced to compete with each other to find the jobs or clients that bill the most hours. Equally, we are not forced to live under the stress of finding someone to bill for a set number of hours a day. This way, people have everything to gain from being selfless.

Accessibility awards

We are one of the Stonewall Top 100 Employers. We support a number of charities and non-profits who help us develop our culture of inclusion and engage with diverse communities

Graduate jobs

Current opportunities

Find available graduate jobs

Training Contract

During the two-year training contract, trainees turn their hand to a broad range of work, taking an active role in four, five or six legal groups while sharing an office with a partner or experienced associate.

Application advice

Always take the time to proof read your application for typos or errors before you submit it or ask a friend to check it over for you.

Prepare for your interview

Preparation is all about doing your research on us and being able to answer questions like why are you applying to us specifically and why do you want to work as a commercial solicitor?

Get in touch

If you have any queries, contact the Trainee Recruitment Team. We will be happy to talk through any concerns and answer your questions.

Excellence never comes from just one perspective. Our teams are drawn from lawyers from different backgrounds and with different viewpoints. They deliver the best advice for our clients by collaborating to find innovative, commercial solutions. A fully open and inclusive environment ensures that the brightest minds will always flourish.

We aim to employ the brightest minds regardless of what or where they have studied you will find graduates from over 84 universities at Slaughter and May. Disability is irrelevant to our application process. A law degree is not essential, only about half of our trainees studied law as undergraduates.

We like people with:

energy and spark who can relate to those around them

common sense, integrity and drive

a range of interests outside of the law

a sharp intellect our work is intellectually demanding so the minimum standard we look for is three strong A levels (or equivalent) and either a high 2:1 or a 1st in your first degree

independent thought

commercial awareness, resolve and judgement, an interesting take on things, the ability to show grit under pressure and a good sense of humour!

To thrive here, you will also need enthusiasm, commitment and a willingness to accept responsibility.

Disability support

Recruitment Adjustments

Slaughter and May is committed to ensuring that our recruitment processes are barrier-free and inclusive as possible to everyone. This includes making adjustments for people who have a disability or long-term condition. We have included some examples below but we would encourage candidates to get in touch to discuss their individual needs.

Extra time

We can arrange for candidates to be given extra time to complete the written exercise and article reading.

Equipment/materials

Candidates can bring their own equipment with them for example laptops with screen readers. We can also provide a printer if candidates would prefer to check their work in hard copy rather than on the screen and we can provide materials in a large font.

Timings

We can adjust the timings of the day where necessary to include breaks.

Workplace Support

We have a Disability Working Group which includes representatives from across the firm, including partners, who work together to ensure our policies, practices and processes are inclusive of disabled people, and that our recruitment process is disability confident.

Our reasonable adjustment process is designed with the individual in mind. When you request a reasonable adjustment, the Health and Safety team will work with you to determine the best adjustments to meet your needs and conduct on-going reviews to make sure that any changes to best practice, technology or your condition are considered.

Our recruitment team regularly attend the Recruiters’ Club Disability Cafés, which supports recruiters and builds their confidence and knowledge about disability in recruitment.

Slaughter and May are also members of the Business Disability Forum and individuals within the firm attend regular conferences and seminars helping the firm to establish barrier-free processes and procedures; and ensure that we adhere to the latest guidelines on disability.

We also host some of these events on behalf of the Business Disability Forum.